While musing about Barack Obama’s admissions of past drug use, ambivablog suggests that “American voters don’t mind human imperfection. They mind hypocrisy and disrespect for their intelligence.” See, Obama admits trying cocaine when he was younger. Bush the Younger refused to answer questions about his past drug use, and Bill Clinton claimed he didn’t inhale (like we want a President who wasn’t smart enough to figure out how to smoke pot). Both were decidedly unsatisfying and uninspiring responses to those issues.
I have to agree that candor is refreshing compared to coy evasions. Nor am I any more or less inclined to vote for Obama than I would have been had he not made the admission. So I think that to a significant degree, amba is right — but there are limits. Drug use inthedistant past, we’ll probably accept that. But how about “killed a guy”? I think that might be a bigger problem.
What about “doesn’t [pretend to] worship God”? Is that a deal-killer?
I have always thought that Bush intentionally leaked that story about the coke so as to immunize himself when the election drew close.